Ministry: Vietnam Trade Surplus Hits $1.647B in Q1
Vietnam is estimated to have posted a trade surplus of US$1.647 billion in the first quarter of this year, the record figure so far, thanks to a sharp increase in gemstone and gold exports, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has said.
The MOIT said in March exports value of gemstone and gold hit $850 million, up 49 folds on year and accounted for 18 per cent of the country’s exports. In the first quarter, gemstone and gold exports jumped 48 folds to US$2.287 billion.
In the first three months, imports hit $11.832 billion, down 45 per cent on year while exports were up 2.4 per cent on year to $13.479 billion, the ministry said.
Without gold exports, Vietnam could have faced a trade deficit of $640 million in the first quarter, compared with a deficit of $8.35 billion during the same period last year.
In March, Vietnam is estimated to have shipped abroad $4.7 billion, down 2.8 per cent on year and imported $4.3 billion, down 45 per cent, the ministry said.
Out of 39 exports items, only nine items reported export values up, the ministry said.
Vietnam has been incurring trade deficit since it firstly reported a trade surplus of $40 million in 1992, particularly with China and South Korea.
Last year, Hanoi incurred a hefty trade deficit of over $11 billion, 57 times higher than in 2001 and accounting for 62.82 per cent of its trade deficit. (VietnamNet, Saigon Liberation)
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